OISTRICH FARMING IN MALAYSIA

THE OSTRICH industry produces skin, oil, feathers and meat as major products has high potential for commercialization. Current world production of ostrich meat is between 12,000 to 15,000 metric ton. About 60% of this production is in South Africa with the remainder is distributed in other countries in the world such as the United States, Australia, Spain, Poland and Middle Eastern countries. Malaysia not yet develop the ostrich industry except for tourism as a new attraction. Major products from ostrich production include fresh meat, steaks, sausages and burgers. As a result of this evolution until today, many restaurants and hotels have added ostrich meat products to their menus as a unique with healthy product commonly requested by the consumer. Despite its avian nature, the ostrich meat is considered a red meat, as it has a reddish color before cooking. This is primarily because of the type of muscles in ostrich in which are mainly for extended activities such as for ovement such as walking, standing and running sometimes. These muscles ability to store a high concentration of the protein myoglobin (22–30 µg of Fe/g) with large amounts of oxygen to support this long-term energy use. The reddish color of myoglobin in the muscles defines ostrich meat as a red meat. Acceptable yield of ostrich meat can be attained at 10 mo of age. Ostrich carcass weight could reach 57.57 to 58.59% of the live Body Weight (100 -130 kg). The separable lean meat of an ostrich is about 62.5% of the ostrich carcass, which compares with 65% for chicken broiler, 71% for turkeys, and 64% for beef . Ten muscles of the ostrich comprise two-thirds of this lean meat, with the remaining one-third as lean trimmings. Sex has no effect on meat yield in young ostriches. However, females tend to have more subcutaneous fat (65.9 vs. 46.7 g/kg for females and males, respectively), more intra- muscular fat for females and males and more total fat (200.5 vs. 156.6 g/kg for females and males, respectively). Several parameters are used to evaluate the quality of ostrich meat; tenderness, color and concentration of hydrogen ion are the most important parameters used. This article in "Anim Agro Technology" I would like to share information on the potential of ostrich industry.

Tenderness is the most important quality characteristic sought by meat consumers an individual. The definition of tenderness is confined to the ease of shearing or cutting during mastication, whereas texture refers to meatiness, greasiness, softness, and structural fineness of the meat before and after mastication. Tenderness is subjectively determined by the consumer and is affected by the cooking methods and cooking temperature. Tenderness of ostrich meat depends on the type of muscle from which it originates. However the taste panelists in the USA indicated that consumers have the same tenderness. It was reported that the low fat content of ostrich meat does not affect the juiciness and texture of ostrich meat, which remains similar to beef. The effect of age on tenderness of ostrich meat was also studied. Sensory analysis by taste panelists reported that meat of younger birds (10-11 month of age) was more tender compared with meat from older birds (14 -15 mo up to 8 year of age).

For the public consumer, color is the first characteristic detected by them for selection of any meat. Ostrich meat is classified as a newly marketed red meat. Compared with beef the ostrich meat is darker in color. The red color is due to the high pigment content of the meat that ranging between 104 and 153 mg of Ferum/gram compared with 69 mg of Ferum /gram in beef from animals of comparable age. This pigment content is slightly different between different muscles of ostrich meat. Another characteristic of importance is the pH value of ostrich meat. It is well known that the pH of living muscles is about 7.2, but when the animal dies the pH drops due to lactic acid production that is a result of anaerobic glycolysis. Ostrich meat is characterized by relatively high hydrogen ion concentration measured 24 hours after bleeding of the bird. This explains the high water-holding capacity of ostrich meat, which makes it an ideal processing meat, as moisture-retaining agents such as phosphate are not needed. As health awareness of modern consumers continues to evolve and more importance is added to the nutritive value of their food. Recently a great attention is being paid to ostrich meat because it combines the flavor of beef and the low intramuscular fat and cholesterol content of poultry.

Several researchers have reported that the fat content and fatty acid profile of ostrich meat differs among different types of muscles from the ostrich carcass. These muscles were chosen because of their high mass and economic value. No significant difference was seen for total lipids and percentage of total saturated and monosaturated fatty acids between the 2 muscles. A comprehensive review on the nutritive value of ostrich meat and concluded, based on different studies, that ostrich meat has a beneficial polyunsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid ratio. In recent years, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have received considerable attention in both human and animal nutrition, particularly those of the n-3 family (omega-3 fatty acids). Enrichment of ostrich meat with n-3 PUFA by supplementation with oilseeds, especially linseed, may provide a good source of these fatty acids in the human diet. Increased oil intake significantly decreased muscle pH and muscle lightness. However, no significant effect on the chemical composition (moisture, protein, fat, and ash content) of the meat was noted. Increasing levels of fish oil increased the concentration of saturated fatty acids in both adipose tissue and muscle, whereas the PUFA concentration decreased with increasing dietary fish oil levels. Fish oil did not affect the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids.

Ostrich meat is considered an ideal red meat for people seeking to control their body weight. Comparable to beef and other poultry meats, ostrich meat is considered as an alternative to red meat for its favorable fatty acid profile and low intramuscular fat content. The fat-to-protein ratio is the key characteristic that favors ostrich meat as a healthy red meat.  The total fatty acid composition was the same for ostrich, turkey and bovine meats. The cholesterol content is thought to be lower for ostrich meat than that of beef and other poultry meats. Compared their mean cholesterol content with cholesterol values that were reported for chicken meat. The meats analysed contained mineral such as phosphorus, manganese and iron are higher and sodium is lower in ostrich meat than either beef or chicken. Ostrich meat is known to have a low fat content, preferable fatty acid profile, low fat-to-protein ratio, low sodium, and high iron content in which is the main attraction for consumers. Ostrich meat is now considered as a red meat that is a healthy alternative to beef and poultry meats. Variations in meat quality traits observed in research studies must be considered as well as differences in carcass yield, resulting from different slaughter methods and from different analysis methodologies. Ostrich has a bright potential to be introduced in Malaysia as a new livestock industry. Thanks.

By,
M Anem,
Senior Agronomist,
Precint 11, Putrajaya,
WP, Malaysia.
(19 JamadilAwal 1440H).

Updated on 19 RabiulAkhir 1447H.